FASHION DILEMMA

Which children's TV characters could make it in fashion?

Browsing the interweb this week, FS was struck by a hammer blow, administered by none other than Stella McCartney, aka Thor of the fashion world. The veggie designer has only gone and got herself some woodland chums! Her latest ad campaign features the famous fawn Bambi and his bunny friends Thumper, Jumper, Cottontail and Peter (whatever - they're all rabbits, aren't they?) romping in the forest with a model. "I'm a huge Bambi fan", said McCartney. "And we wanted to have some fun. The clothes in the campaign are looking quite fierce, and we wanted to contrast them with the innocence of Bambi."

Let's forgive Stella's use of the word 'fierce' - even though it rankles that Tyra Banks-speak is taking over the world. Instead, let's see which other designers are inspired by kids' stuff, and ponder which friendly characters from our childhood could be resurrected from the cutting-room floor and given a new life in fashion.

Someone who was doing this before Stella is Casablanca-born Jean Charles de Castelbajac (try saying that with your mouth full). This loopy fashion designer sent models in muppets down his catwalks last season and his outfits have proved popular with Lady Gaga, who wore a Castelbajac-designed puffball skirt with the face of Animal on it recently. Just this week she wore one of his coats on German TV, which begged the question: how many Kermits died to cover her back?

Mickey Mouse inspired US designer Jeremy Scott's autumn/winter 09 collection. The famous mouse appeared in all sorts of guises, from the abstract (Mickey Mouse ear shapes on the hemlines of flirty dresses) to the obvious (a collaboration with Adidas to create trainers with Mickey's face on the tongue).

It's time to bring on the Brits! This year at London fashion week we demand to see models dressed in upside-down yellow ice cream cones a la Wizbit (although we can live without Paul Daniels). And who needs Mickey Mouse when you've got Danger Mouse - he is, after all, the greatest secret agent in the world. Say hello to eye patches, red belts and a small sidekick with glasses.

The Muppets could be ditched in favour of the nation's favourite cat, Bagpuss, and Giles Deacon could whip up a catwalk show inspired by the blobs in Trapdoor. It doesn't end there: we're in a recession, so why not start watching some old episodes of Button Moon, the all time greatest craft project ever undertaken by Blue Peter presenters (we might be lying about that last bit). If designers start collecting egg boxes, washing up bottles and wooden spoons now, they may have just enough household waste to create a full collection come September.

BANG ON TREND

The sales

You may have noticed the shops being busier than usual recently (or if you're like us and do all your shopping online, maybe not). Anyway, crowds are an indicator of one of two things: either last-minute Christmas shopping, or sales season. As we've not heard any songs about elves and snow, or seen any men with big white beards, common sense dictates it must be the latter.

So we've spent 10 hours (OK, 10 minutes) trawling the net for the best online bargains we can find.

Make like Posh Spice and snap up this RM by Roland Mouret skirt, which has been reduced from £600 to £300 at theoutnet.com. We really like these roll-up trousers from Urban Outfitters at £48. They're the kind of wardrobe staple that could be worn with anything, day or night. Bargain central.

3.1 Phillip Lim. Photograph: Public Domain

Fancy a bit of colour blocking? You could do worse than this satin dress from Dorothy Perkins, which comes in at a fabulously cheap £15. Or there's a Marc by Marc Jacobs orange and pink mini dress, reduced from £368 to £184 from farfetch.com.

If the playsuit is your hot look for this summer, this 3.1 Phillip Lim Ikat print playsuit is pretty nice - although it costs £299.40, and that's with 40% off. Some people prefer separates, so we've found this cute ra-ra skirt that taps into the nautical look from asos.com, reduced from £60 to £35.

The scalloped look is also in - we remember it at Christopher Kane and Stella McCartney's shows. This peach-coloured silk top by Stella is reduced from £345 to £241.50 from farfetch.com.

In need of boyfriend jeans, perhaps? Then my-wardrobe.com has a great pale denim pair by Sass & Bide, reduced by 80% down to £34. We say wear with flats rather than heels.

Suiting a dressed-down look with jeans, or a dressed-up look with a LBD, this gold quilted bag with a chain strap by Marc Jacobs has been reduced from £350 to £210.

After a smart pair of brogue-like pumps? Then Duo has the shoe for you (in a range of width fittings) for only £29, reduced from £59. If you want something a little smarter, the YSL cage boot that was all over the place earlier this year has now been reduced to a mere £524 - that's a whole 50% off its normal price. It's no good in the rain, though ...

FASHIONISTA OF THE WEEK

Katherine Heigl

Photograph: Steve Granitz/WireImage.com

A vision in beige (an oxymoron if ever we heard one), Katherine Heigl looked anything but ugly at the Hollywood premier of her new film, The Ugly Truth. Her new brunette locks gave us the impression that she wants to be taken seriously. The dress was by Lanvin and was complimented by gold and peach David Yurman pearls. While there was a slight air of net-curtain tomfoolery, Miss Haversham-style, overall the look was elegant and sophisticated.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"A woman who doesn't wear perfume has no future."

A recession-savvy Coco Chanel attempts to drum up sales at the Chanel beauty counter from beyond the grave.Taken from vogue.co.uk

FASHION GRAVEYARD

Rachel BilsonPhillip Lim's party to celebrate the first anniversary of his LA store was a veritable playground of fashion no-nos. Leona Lewis turned up in what looked like a leftover from last years Halloween party, with a 'dirty bed-sheet becomes couture' dress. After stiff competition, the top prize went to Rachel Bilson. Her foray deep into the fashion graveyard was accompanied by a bronze lamé shorts suit, complete with crinkly crotch and a Michael Jackson jacket circa 1984.

SHOPPING NEWS

My Only One is a new clothing brand that turns textile waste into fashion-forward apparel. They have a 'sport nouveau' collection at Topshop on Oxford Street, London, this summer, in which they've transformed oversized men's sportswear into womenswear with a flirty, tomboy twist.

We have a lot of weddings coming up, so we've been searching for a good website to find a frock. Lo and behold, we've got one: it's called frockonline.com and stocks lots of affordable independent designers from Europe. What's more, you can have your personal style questions answered by the stylist, Corinne, who has a blog on the site.

OUT AND ABOUT

Lady Luck Rules OK necklace. Photograph: PR handout

It's been out in France since April, but Coco Avant Chanel, the biopic about the world-famous fashion designer, doesn't hit UK cinema screens until July 31. We say book your tickets now for some chic Audrey Tautou action.

If you're in London this weekend, it's worth paying a visit to the V&A Village Fete. The John Madejski garden will be transformed into a Jubilee-style celebration, to mark 10 years of the fete. The Lady Luck Rules Ok girls will be there, and have designed a giant game of tiddlywinks for everyone to play. It combines kittens and rock'n'roll, but we don't want to give away any more ... Events kick off at 6:30pm on Friday July 24, and the fete is open again on Saturday from 1pm-5pm. Entry costs £3.